Knitting-machine.



PATENTED MAY 14, 1907.

. J. P. SHEPPARD; KNITTING MACHINE. APPLIOATIOK FILED JAN.31.1906.

3 SHEET$SHEET 1.

[ Ni WIHIIHEIHHHI I'HIHIHHHHH-,

No. 853,825. PATENTED MAY 14, 1967.

. J. P-. SHEPPARD.

KNITTING MACHINE.

. APPLICATION FILED JAN.31,1906.

3 SHBETSSHEET 2.

m i gm g, laws:

kfi V IT y I PATENTED MAY 14, 1907.

J. P. SHEPPARD. KNITTING MACHINE.

V APPLICATION FILED JAN.31. 1906.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 8.

31 10011 fez gmsL wa In cases attoznmg UNITED sTATEs PATENT OFFICE.-

KNlTTlNG-MACHINE.

Specification "of Letters Patent.

Application filed January 31. 1906. Serial No. 298.740.

Patented May 14, 1907.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I,JOHN P. SHEPPARD, the city and county of Salem, State of New Jersey, have invented an. Improvement in Knitting-Machines, of which the following is a specification. I

My invention has reference, to knitting machines and consists of certain im rovements which 'are'fully set forth in the ollowing specification and shown in the accom anying drawings which form a part thereo The object of my invention is to provide a knitting machine with ca acity for knitting a stocking withopen or ace work enti'rely bular knitted fabric may produce a stocking around the leg portion and down the inste portion andwith solid or regular knit hee sole and toe portion.

it has been customary in knitted hoisery to form a stocking of a sin le thread with the lace or open Work upon t e front of the leg and instep portions and 'vithregularknit back of the leg, heel, sole and toeportions but,

great dilliculty has been. experienced in roducing such a stocking with the lace wor or open work all around the leg portion and the entire stocking made seamless and at one.

continuous operation. My invention overcomes this dilliculty in a simple and inexpensive way, and is adapted for use in connection with ordinary knitting machines found on the market and heretofore adapted to produce tuck work and plain knitting and open work by removal of needles; and more s eciiically my invention is adapted'to knitting machines employing beard needles having reciprocating motion such for example as set v forth in the U.. Letters Patent to E. 'J.

Franck, No. 536,616 of April 2, 1895, No. (356,538 of August 21st, 1900 and No. 671,995 of April 16th, 1901 and No. 706,509 of August 12th, 1902 to Bard, and to which referonce is made for the general details and mode of operation of the machine. It will be sullirient, in describing my improvements, to assume certain operations for the ordinary and well known parts of the machines as disclosed in said Franck and Bard patents.

My .i'nvention consists in providing for cooperation with some of the needles; constituting two sols, of a series of pads or cams which are adapted to close the beards of the needles to prevent them taking thethread when it is desired to make a miss-stitch or upon work and withoutremoving any of the m'wlles,:1.'i .l in which the cams or pads forthe w oi' nor-(lies which knit the front of the stocking may be operated independently of the pads or cams for the needles which knit the rear part of the stocking, heel, sole and toe, combined with patterneontrolled mechanism for independently operating the pads 0r cams-of the set of needles for knitting the frontof the stocking or for operating all of the pads or cams for the needles of both sets at will, whereby lace work or open work may be produced upon one-half of the needles nly or upon all of the needles as desired during one continuous operation of knitting a stocking. In the operation of my invention, the tuwhieh the upper part of the leg portion around; the foot formed with solid sole, heel and toe an l lace instep andyvith the toe end ofthe instep made of plain knit fabric to more easily close the toe by looping, thereby producing a most perfect stocking of any desired pattern. I

My invention also comprehends details of construction which, together with the features above specified, will be'better understood by reference to the drawings, in which Figure 1 is a plan View of sinker bed and sinkers and pattern mechanism for operating the cams or pads for the needles; Fig. 2 is a vertical section through the needle head and operating mechanism; F ig; 3 is a perspective View of the pivoted cam for operating the pads; Fig. 4 is an elevation of same Figs. 5 and 6 are perspective views of sinkers and pads suitable for use in my inventionv for the front and back sets of needles; Fig. 7 is a plan view. of one of the sinkers and pads; Fig. 8 is a plan view of a series of sinkers and pads; Figs. 9 and 10 and 1.1 are plan views of links adapted to be used in the pattern chain for controlling the pads; Fig. 12 1s a side elevation oftbe knitting head and tuck mechanism; Fig. 13 is a sectional plan view of the same; and Fig. 14 is an elevation of the cam rim for the tuck sinkers.

.' is the needle head and statiornn v.

F are the needles which are of the bearded type. These needles are arranged in two sets, each approximately evtcnrling half around the needle cylinder. llitflll set is reciprocated by one of the lifter frames (1 (3 and they are rcciprocated alternately in the lwell known manner. ()ne of these sets of may be of solid or pla1n knit fabric, the lower part ofthe leg portion with lace work all needles is further under control of fashioning devices for throwing needles into or out of action for forming the heel and toe but the details of that mechanism are not shown.

.1) is the sinker bed and is carried by the needle head l) and l) is the sinker gear, rotating upon the sinker bed and having cam grooves for reciprocating the sinkers E away from the needle shanks when the thread guide is in the act of delivering the thread.

R is the thread guide and rotates with the sinker gear.

The foregoing parts are all well known and will not need any further description.

As pointed out, the'necdles are arranged in two halves and reciprocated alternately, and the sinkcrs are arranged in an annular form about the needle head and the sinkers E of the needles F which knit the front half of the stocking may be provided with pads E having upwardly extended shoulders of considerable height, while the needles F which knit the rear half of the stocking are provided with pads E having similar upwardly extending shoulders but of less height. These pads may be attached to the sinkers in any convenient manner and are adapted, when moved toward the needles, to present their cam portions 0 to the beards of the downwardly moving needles for the purpose of closing the boards of the said needles and preventing the "thread passing under beards thereof, the result being that the needle fails to knit and openwork or miss-stitches result.

This open work when combined with tuck stitches produce lace work effects. The tuck effects maybe produced upon a portion only of the needles many well known mannor, as for example, by the. means set out in the U. S. Patent to Bard No. 706,509 dated Aug. 12, 1902. y

The tuck mechanism is more fully shown in Figs. 12, 13 and 14 in whichf are the statioi'iary jacks arranged radially in respect to the needle cylinder and below the sinker bed. The acks for such needles as are to produce tuck stitches by having their beards open when descending are shown atf and are pivoted so as to rock under the influence of the semi-circular cam rings g. These segments or semi-circular cam' rings g are provided witn oblique cam slots 9 which work on pins g and are rocked by pins g with the result of I causing the cam ring segments to rise or fall, which acting on the heels of the jacks f cause them to oscillate. The pins g are operated by the pattern mechanism R which by rods 1* 1", levers .li" R" and pattern chain R controls the time of act-ion of the jacksf in being withdrawn from the needles to prevent them shedding their loops. This mechanism is fully disclosed in detail in the aforesaid letters Patent No. 706,509 to Bard and tionp Any other suitable tuck mechanism may be employed in lieu thereol.

in practice, I arrange pads or cams to act upon certain needles so as to produce the open work to a greater or less degree in combination with said tuck work to produce the lace work. Of course, it is evident that open work alone may be produced if the tuck work is omitted. arrangement "of pads as they may be "arranged to operate upon isolated needles or upon needles in sets of two or more as de sired.

The pads are. operated by a pivoted cam 1 having the two operating cam faces P and P, the former acting upon all of the pads to move them toward the needles and the latter acting only upon the pads E which are employed in connection with those needles which. knit the front only of the leg of the stocking. The cam P is pivoted at 1) at its middle to the cam ring or gear 1) of the sinker bed which operates the sinkers during itsrotation. By being oscillated in one direction.

the cam surface P of this pivoted cam comes into position to'move all of the pads of both sets of needles?" When the cam P is oscillated in the other direction, the other cam surface P comes into position to operate only the pads E of the set of need es which knit the front of the stocking and instep. The

eam surface P has an undercut portion which permlts the free passage of pads E l l pivoted leyer J is in intermediate or central l position, neither of the cam faces 71 or 71 pomay be taken as an example of suitable tuck mechanism'adapted ior use with my lIl\'(l1--l lntit'llllle were operated to produce tuck for the needles which knit the back half of the stocking without moving said pads.

The pivoted'cam P is moved by a bar G I do not confine myself to any guided in a guide G on the cam ring or sinker gear D and this bar is provided with an upwardly extending pin carrying a roller 9 by which the bar is moved, I

H is a lever having the cam surfaces It and h with a slot between them through which the roller 9 ofthe bar G travels; and by means of: thecam faces h or It said bar is shifted inward or outward with corresponding oscillation of the pivoted cam P. The lever His pivoted upon a standard H and 1s reciprocated by rod J, chain lever J pivoted at J, and pattern chain I at the distant end. of the knitting machine. The chain links are provided with lugs I a-nd I for shifting the chain lever J and thereby throwing'the cam faces h or 71/ of the lever H into op- 'e'rating position; and said chain may also be PIOVMlEd with links havmgca'm faces I for holding the cam lever H in central position when none of the pads are to be operated by the cam P.

It will now be understood that when the sition the cam i to operate the sinker pads and consequently, in that position, the knitting would be plain or simple tuck work if the IIO' ' each side of the tuck needles removed.

' of both sets knit plain or solid fabric.

stitches; but if the cam face h is put into opcrating position, then open work is produced lace work oropenwork, as desired. After the completion of the sole and instep porsions down to almost the end of the instep,

the cam faces h and h are thrown to the intermediate position so that all of the needles This enables the solid fabric of the instep to be perfectly looped to the solid fabric of the toe to make a perfect seam or closure. It is also evident that this, machine has the oapacity of knitting plainwork, tuck work, open work, or lace work at will, so that a great variation in desi n may be given to the stocking. For

example, the lace work may be formed only around the ankle part and instep portion, or only on the front of the le portion, or onlv on the instep and front 0 the ankle, or all around the Whole or an part of the leg portion and on the front 0 the ankle and mstep portion. It will be evident that Where the stockin is to have lace work all the Way down t e front of the stocking, the sinker pads E may be omitted and the needles ufipn .1s however has the disadvantage that the end of the-instep portion will not terminate in solid fabric for perfect looping with the toe. It is also undesirable, because-the upperpart of the leg portion could not be knit solid at the front.

Where two adjacent needles are re lured to produce miss-stitch o1- openwork may provide the pad cams upon each side of the sinker as shown at E Fig. 8, or a single pad may be upon the sinker.

The pad cams are arranged between the sinkcrs and in line with the needles or such of them are to be 0 erated to make open work. As shown in the drawing these pad cams are carried by the sinker bed through the sinkers, but it is immaterial how they are supported as they may be independent of the sinkers, as for example asset out in Letters Patent No. 824,043 of June 19, 1906 granted to J. I. Sheppard, et al. Ordinarily there is sufficient movement possible to the sinkers in their cams to permit the desired mani ulation of the pad cams, but it is evident t at these pad (-an'is may if desired have their shanks extended outward suf'ficii. ntly to be (-iircctly supported by the sinker bed, in which case they would he as illustrated with. tl'ie nose of the sinker part removed, that is so as to terminate at the cam part c. Pad cams of this nature are well known and need no further description. I

It is evident that'the upwardly extending shoulders of the pads which arefactuated by the cam surfaces may be on the sinkers when the pads are attached to the sinkers, or otherwise, and it is also evident that it is i'mmate rial'how the cam faces cooperate with the pads or sinkers as long as one set or both sets of the said pads are adapted to be operated by said cam mechanism. I do not confine myself to any particular operating means for moving the, pads, as such means maybe made in various ways without departing from the spirit of the invention, which comprehends broadly, the pads for the front and rear sets of needles combined with means for operating all of the pads or those only of the front needles under the control of pattern mechanism.

My invention is more particularly an imrovement of the knitting machine set out in the aforesaid-Letters Patent No. 824,043 of 1906, and while I have shown my invention as applied to the Franck and Bard types of knitting machinesI do not restrict myself to any particular make of this class of machines, as my invention is applicable to all forms of knitting machines employing vertically reciprocating beard needles, sink: ers, and means for producing tuck work thereon.

I do not confine myself to the details of construction as these may be modified in various ways without departing from the I spirit of my invention.

Having now described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In a knitting machine the combination of front and rear sets of reciprocating beard needles, pads for part of the front needles, pads for part of the rear needles, and pattern controlled devices comprising means to operate atone time only the pads of the front needles and at another time the pads of both the front and rear sets of needles.

2. In a knitting machine the combination of front and rear sets of reciprocating beard needles, pads for part of the front needles,

'pads for part of the rear needles, cam devices compris ng means to operate at one time only the pads of the front needles and at another time the ads of both the front and rear set of need es, and pattern mechanism for controlling said cam devices to cause the open Work to be produced only by the front set of needles or by both the front and rear sets of needles at will.

3. In a knitting machine the combination of front and rear sets of reciprocating beard needles, pads for part of the front needles, pads for part of the rear needles, devices constructed to operate at one time only the pads of the front needles and at another time the pads of both the front and rear sets of needles consisting of a movable cam having two operating erate on y one or both. of the sets of pads, s 'fting devices for the movable cam to bring either of its operating portions into' operating position alternately, and pattern I mechanism for controllingthe shifting devices, whereby one or 'both sets of pads are caused to be shifted. i

sets of said pads into 0 'erative position; at. will, whereby 0 en wor may be made by oneset of need es only at one place in the fabric and byboth sets of needles-at another place in the fabric.

5. In a knitting machine, the combination of reciprocating beard needles, two sets of pads for a portion only of said needles to cause them to make open or n'iiss-stitch work, means whereby only one set of pads may be moved int 0 operative position, means whereby bothsets of pads may be moved into operative position. and pattern mechanism to control the operation of said means whereby either one set or both sets of pads are moved into operative position and definite duce at s ecific places on the stocking.

6. In a knitting machine, the combination of 'reciprocatingibeard needles, sinkersi'or said needles, two"sets of sinker )ads for said needles one set having high sioulders for one-half of the needles and the other set having low shoulders for, the other half or set of the needles, and cam mechanism for operating upon the sinker pads for operating one or both sets as desired.

7. ln a knitting machine, the vcombination. of reciprocating beard needles, sinkers for said needles, twossets oi' sinker pads for said needles one set having high shoulders for one-half of the ieeilles and ,the other set 7 having low shoulders for the other half oi the needles, and pattern controlled cam mechportions respectively adapted to.

patterns of open or lace work thus pro-.

anism for operating upon the sinker pads for operating one or both sets as desired.

8. In a knitting machine, the combination of reciprocating beard needles, sinkers for said needles, two sets of sinker ads for said needles one set having high sioulders for one-half of the needles and the other set having low shoulders for the other half of the needles, and cam mechanism foroperating upon the sinker pads for operating one or both sets as desired consisting of the pivoted cam P having operating face P to operate upon all of the sinker pads and face P to operate only on the high shouldered pads, and pattern controlled mechanism for shifting the pivoted cam.

9. In a knitting machine of the class described, a needle cylinder, :two sets of. beard needles for said cylinder, means for reciprocating said sets of needles alternately, means for feeding a thread to the needles, and means for roducing tuck stitches u on a portion of t 1e needles of each set, com ined with pattern controlled devices for automatically causing the open work to be produced upon a portion of the needles of one or both sets of needles, whereby lace effects may be roduced part way or wholly around the stoc ing.

10. In a machine of the class described, a needle cylinder, two sets of beard needles, means for reciprocating the said sets of needles alternately, means for knitting a heeland toe upon one set of the needles, means for producing plain or tuck stitches upon a portion of the needles of each set, combined with pads for a portion of the needles of each set for rendering said needles inoperative so as to make 0 )en work, cam devices for operating the pad devices for operating the ads of both sets of needles, and pattern mec ianism for putting either of the cam devices into operative posltion at will whereby lace work may be made upon one set or upon both sets of the needles as dictated by thepattern mechanism.

In testimony of which invention, I have hereunto set my hand JNO. RsHEPPARD.

Witnesses:

R. M. I'IUNTER, R. M. KELLY.

s of one set of the needles, cam 

